Putin likens opponents to ''gnats,'' signaling new repression
New York(AP): Facing stiff resistance in Ukraine and crippling economic sanctions at home, Russian President Vladimir Putin is using language that recalls the rhetoric from Josef Stalin's show trials of the 1930s.
Putin's ominous speech on Wednesday likened opponents to gnats who try to weaken the country at the behest of the West crude remarks that set the stage for sweeping repressions against those who dare to speak out against the war in Ukraine.
His rant appeared to reflect his frustration about the slow pace of the Russian offensive, which bogged down on the outskirts of Kyiv and around other cities in northeastern Ukraine. Russian forces made comparatively bigger gains in the south, but they haven't been able to capture the strategic port of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, and their advance along the Black Sea coast also has stalled.
Meanwhile, Russia has been battered by devastating Western sanctions that cut the government's access to an estimated half of the country's hard currency reserves and dealt crippling blows to many sectors of the economy.
With his hopes for a blitz in Ukraine shattered and economic costs mounting swiftly, Putin unleashed a venomous diatribe at those who oppose his course.
The Russian people will always be able to distinguish true patriots from scum and traitors and will simply spit them out like a gnat that accidentally flew into their mouths spit them out on the pavement, Putin said during Wednesday's call with top officials. I am convinced that such a natural and necessary self-purification of society will only strengthen our country, our solidarity, cohesion and readiness to respond to any challenges.
The coarse language carried ominous parallels for those familiar with Soviet history. During show trials of Stalin's Great Terror, authorities disparaged the declared enemies of the people as reptiles or mad dogs.
His voice strained by anger, Putin charged that Russians who oppose the war in Ukraine were a fifth column" obsequiously serving Western interests and ready to sell their own mother.
I don't condemn those who have villas in Miami or the French Riviera, those who can't live without foie gras, oysters or so-called gender freedoms, Putin said. It's not a problem. The problem is that many of those people are mentally there (in the West) and not here with our people, with Russia. They don't remember or just don't understand that they are just ... expendables used for the purpose of inflicting the maximum damage on our people.
As he spoke, the Russian State Investigative Committee announced the opening of criminal probes against several people accused of spreading false information about the military action in Ukraine.
The first person singled out by the country's top investigative agency was Veronika Belotserkovskaya, a popular blogger and socialite who has written books about French and Italian cuisine and divides her time between Russia and southern France. She appeared to be a target conveniently fitting Putin's scathing description of cosmopolitan Russians who love fancy food and are seemingly at odds with the broad masses.
The investigative committee said it would move to issue an international arrest warrant for Belotserkovskaya, alleging her Instagram posts discredited state authorities and the military.
Belotserkovskaya responded by writing: I have been officially declared to be a decent person!
She is being investigated under new legislation fast-tracked on March 4 by the Kremlin-controlled parliament, a week after Putin launched the invasion. It envisions prison terms of up to 15 years for posting fake information about the military that differs from the official narrative.
Putin and his lieutenants describe the war in Ukraine as a special military operation intended to uproot alleged neo-Nazi nationalists and remove a potential military threat against Russia goals that most of the world has rejected as bogus.
Russian officials have attributed the offensive's slow pace to their desire to spare civilians, even as the military pummeled Mariupol, Kyiv, Kharkiv and other Ukrainian cities with indiscriminate barrages and airstrikes, killing untold numbers of civilians.
With the action in Ukraine in stark contrast with official declarations, the authorities acted quickly to control the message, shutting access to foreign media websites, along with Facebook and Instagram and moving to outlaw their parent company Meta as an extremist organization.
The tight lids on information have helped the Kremlin rally support of broad layers of the population who rely on state-controlled television as their main source of news. State TV programs carried an increasingly aggressive message against those who oppose the war.
Asked about incidents in which the apartment doors of war critics were spray-painted with the letter Z a sign used to mark Russian military vehicles in Ukraine that has been heavily promoted by the state Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described it as an emotional" move by Putin's supporters.
The campaign in support of the war saw Russian cities flooded with Z posters and vehicles emblazoned with it. School children were shown standing in groups in the shape of the letter or wearing clothes marked with a Z.
Despite the draconian new laws, tight controls on information and increasingly aggressive propaganda, however, thousands of Russians showed up at antiwar protests across the country to face immediate arrest.
In a powerful symbol of defiance, an employee of state television interrupted a live news program, holding a handmade sign protesting the war. Marina Ovsyannikova was fined the equivalent of 270, but still faces a criminal probe that could land her in prison.
One loud voice of dissent was that of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Putin's fiercest political foe who is serving 2 1/2 years in prison and now faces a trial that could hand him a 13-year sentence.
In a speech at his trial Tuesday, Navalny warned that the war will lead to the breakup of Russia, saying that everyone's duty now is to oppose the war.
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Ban on outsiders' entry extended in Sambhal, SP MPs barred from entering
Lucknow/Sambhal (UP) (PTI): Three Samajwadi Party parliamentarians, including its Sambhal MP, were stopped from entering the violence-hit district, as the administration on Saturday extended the ban on the entry of outsiders into Sambhal to December 10 to maintain "peace and order".
The administration's earlier ban on the entry of outsiders was to expire on Saturday.
The Samajwadi Party's Muzaffarnagar MP Harendra Malik, accompanied by its Kairana and Sambhal MPs, was stopped from entering Sambhal from Ghaziabad.
"I don't understand why we are being stopped. Are the opposition leader and the MPs so irresponsible that they can't be allowed to move within the state?" Malik said.
The party had earlier announced a 15-member delegation would visit the district to gather information about the violence that broke out over a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid.
Curbs under Section 163 (power to issue order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, set to expire on Sunday, were extended to December 31.
In a statement issued in Sambhal, District Magistrate Rajendra Pensiya said, "To maintain peace and order, the imposition of Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita in the district has been extended to December 31."
"No outsider, any social organisation or public representative can enter into the borders of the district without seeking the permission of the competent authority till December 10," he added.
Tension had been brewing in Sambhal since November 19 when the court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era mosque was carried out following claims that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site.
Violence erupted during a second survey on November 24 as protesters gathered near the mosque and clashed with security personnel, leading to stone pelting and arson. Four people died and several others were injured in the clashes. The police have denied allegations that it fired at the protesters.
The Supreme Court has since ordered the Sambhal trial court to halt proceedings in the case and its survey.
Pensiya further said, "If anyone tries to spread rumours on any group on social media, the group admin will delete the post and immediately inform the police. Cyber cafes will keep a register to enter the names of visitors. No person in Sambhal will burn effigies at public places."
Malik, who was stopped from entering Sambhal, further said, "Our delegation also included MPs Zia-ur-Rehman Barq (Sambhal) and Iqra Hasan (Kairana). What can we do? The government is acting in an autocratic manner."
Sambhal MP Barq has been booked in connection with the November 24 violence for "provocative acts".
In Moradabad, Samajwadi Party MP Ruchi Veera's residence was surrounded by cops to prevent her from travelling to Sambhal.
Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey, who was to lead the delegation, told reporters outside his Lucknow residence that Home Secretary Sanjay Prasad called him and requested him to not visit Sambhal.
Pandey is sitting on a dharna in Lucknow.
"The Sambhal district magistrate also called and told me that the ban on the entry of outsiders had been extended. I will now visit the party office and discuss the issue before deciding on our next action," he said.
"The government perhaps wanted to prevent me in order to hide its wrongdoings in Sambhal as our visit would have exposed its mistakes," he added.
Heavy security has been deployed outside Pandey's residence since Friday.
The Samajwadi Party had postponed an earlier visit after assurances from the director general of police about a fair investigation into the violence.
Congress state chief Ajay Rai earlier told PTI that a party delegation would visit Sambhal on December 2.
